Birkbeck, University of London

University

Film and Screen Media

This programme offers you a broad-based understanding of how film, television and other screen media have developed and interacted across their varying histories. It also gives you the opportunity to specialise in chosen areas of those media histories, in order to personalise your studies towards specific intellectual interests and future career hopes. The programme is unique in the way that it combines rigorous academic study with creative and practical opportunities, the latter offered both within certain option modules and via the 2-month work placement. This intermixing of the academic and the practical also enables you to take your interests further, either into further postgraduate study, towards a career in teaching or into possible work opportunities in many areas of the media industries.

Course modules

The programme consists of a core module, a choice of option modules, a research project or placement and a dissertation.
The core module is designed to introduce you to the basic methodologies and issues involved in the area concerned, as well as research skills and methods.
Option modules and the research project allow you to pursue specific interests and areas of research. The placement, should you wish to pursue this alternative to the research project, offers the opportunity for direct industry experience.
To find out more, read our programme handbook.
Core module:
Media Technologies and Culture .
Indicative option modules:
Avant-Garde Film, Video and Beyond;
British Cinema and Television 1960-85;
Contemporary American Cinema;
European Cinema at the Crossroads;
Exhibiting the Moving Image: theory and context;
Exploring the Language of Image and Sound;
Film Festivals;
Global Television .
A unique feature of the programme is the placement, which offers you the experience of working in a prominent media company or institution. Alternatively, the research project gives you the chance to undertake independent research and reflect on research methodologies. You will complete the programme with a 15,000-word dissertation.

Assessment methods

3 coursework essays and a placement research report of approximately 5000 words each, and a dissertation of 15,000 words, due in September of the final year.

Sponsorship information

The government's new postgraduate loan scheme allows you to borrow up to £10,000 to cover the cost of your tuition fees, living costs or other study expenses - and you don't have to start repaying until 2019.
The School of Arts offers a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.
Part-time students who are experiencing financial need may apply for assistance from the Birkbeck Alumni Fund Postgraduate Opportunity Bursary.